Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a U13 boy. He is not going to make 1st team on any club but probably 2nd team. We're trying out at Potomac, Achilles, and Stoddard right now. I heard that the quality of play drops after the first team, but are the coaches still good and do the kids develop and have fun?

Marlon Ponce started at BSC on the Orange team (lowest team possible) at U12. Rose up each level and finished on the Academy Team. He will be on the incoming class for Georgetown Soccer next year.

Wow. This is a nice story. Sounds like he put in lots of hard work. Not the typical story of clubs only cares about recruiting outside players, never promoting a lower team player or every top team player has parents that are connected.

Results may vary

Yeah...one counter example doesn’t change an entire culture. When it comes to bringing people up to a first team, BSC is FAR more likely to take someone from another program.

While I agree, but this kid must be incredibly athletic with great technical skills. I didn’t see him play so I’m not sure of both.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a U13 boy. He is not going to make 1st team on any club but probably 2nd team. We're trying out at Potomac, Achilles, and Stoddard right now. I heard that the quality of play drops after the first team, but are the coaches still good and do the kids develop and have fun?

Marlon Ponce started at BSC on the Orange team (lowest team possible) at U12. Rose up each level and finished on the Academy Team. He will be on the incoming class for Georgetown Soccer next year.

Wow. This is a nice story. Sounds like he put in lots of hard work. Not the typical story of clubs only cares about recruiting outside players, never promoting a lower team player or every top team player has parents that are connected.

Results may vary

Yeah...one counter example doesn’t change an entire culture. When it comes to bringing people up to a first team, BSC is FAR more likely to take someone from another program.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a U13 boy. He is not going to make 1st team on any club but probably 2nd team. We're trying out at Potomac, Achilles, and Stoddard right now. I heard that the quality of play drops after the first team, but are the coaches still good and do the kids develop and have fun?

Marlon Ponce started at BSC on the Orange team (lowest team possible) at U12. Rose up each level and finished on the Academy Team. He will be on the incoming class for Georgetown Soccer next year.

Wow. This is a nice story. Sounds like he put in lots of hard work. Not the typical story of clubs only cares about recruiting outside players, never promoting a lower team player or every top team player has parents that are connected.

Results may vary

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a U13 boy. He is not going to make 1st team on any club but probably 2nd team. We're trying out at Potomac, Achilles, and Stoddard right now. I heard that the quality of play drops after the first team, but are the coaches still good and do the kids develop and have fun?

Marlon Ponce started at BSC on the Orange team (lowest team possible) at U12. Rose up each level and finished on the Academy Team. He will be on the incoming class for Georgetown Soccer next year.

Wow. This is a nice story. Sounds like he put in lots of hard work. Not the typical story of clubs only cares about recruiting outside players, never promoting a lower team player or every top team player has parents that are connected.

Anonymous wrote:I have a U13 boy. He is not going to make 1st team on any club but probably 2nd team. We're trying out at Potomac, Achilles, and Stoddard right now. I heard that the quality of play drops after the first team, but are the coaches still good and do the kids develop and have fun?

Marlon Ponce started at BSC on the Orange team (lowest team possible) at U12. Rose up each level and finished on the Academy Team. He will be on the incoming class for Georgetown Soccer next year.

Anonymous wrote:There are some good B teams at Bethesda - good coaches and a competitive team that may give you a better experience. But it takes due diligence to find out as it varies by age group.

They also revamped their ECNL program and some good coaches on ECNL 2 teams. We know kids that placed well on college teams out of ECNL 2 They credit the new BSC ECNL leadership.

Would agree with this, BSC is a good destination for ECNL 2

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just start off in a local rec league with a volunteer parent coach who has never played soccer but is passionate about the game. Sometime after puberty hits, the skills will develop naturally and you can switch over to DC United or get scouted to play somewhere that is a good fit.

Do not agree

I'm assuming that was sarcastic. At least I hope.

That was the way I interpreted it too.

It seems to be a bit of a mantra that the kids that weren't so good can suddenly overtake the kids that were good when puberty hits. I assumed this guy was calling BS on that and I agree with him. Yes the relative abilities of players can change because
- a kid that wasn't all that skilled but was big/fast/strong falls back to the pack as other kids growth catches up
- a tiny but skilled kid grows and is now more able to compete physically
- a co-ordinated athletic kid who started the game late overtakes kids who have been playing for longer but are not as naturally athletic and coordinated
- a kid works his ass off and improves his skills through hard work which other players do not replicate

But, despite these possibilities existing, for the most part the better kids remain better and significant movement is unusual although certainly not non-existent.

There are some good B teams at Bethesda - good coaches and a competitive team that may give you a better experience. But it takes due diligence to find out as it varies by age group.

They also revamped their ECNL program and some good coaches on ECNL 2 teams. We know kids that placed well on college teams out of ECNL 2 They credit the new BSC ECNL leadership.